I'm a Hornet from President Shonrock — October 15, 2013

October 15, 2013

The Hornet Nation was All Shook Up this past Homecoming weekend recognizing the Hornet Heritage Crumb/White family with degrees stretching from KSN, KSTC, and ESU; recognizing our four Outstanding Recent Graduates and four Distinguished Alumni; Athletics Hall of Honor inductees; the theatre production All Shook Up; and the Hornet football team putting up a school record of 747 yards of total offense in their 63-17 victory.

Sandwiched between the beginning and ending of Homecoming 2013 were ESU Foundation Ringing the Bell ceremonies at the Sauder Alumni Center with significant gifts by the Davis family to the School of Business in honor of ESU Professor John Rich, the dedication of John Baxter Sports Medicine Center for athletic training, and the Amend family to the School of Music for the Edith Lessenden Chandler Recital Series.

Barnes & Noble Bookstore had its biggest homecoming sales day in more than a decade; nearly 1,000 pieces of Hornet gear were sold during the recent homecoming and family weekends.

Emporia State, through the Division of Student Affairs, has partnered with the Foundation for a Better Life; 3-5 ESU students will be highlighted via stories and videos celebrating their character as Hornets that are making a difference.

Emporia Connection, ESU African-American Alums, announced over Homecoming weekend a new Mentor Program; alums serving as mentors to undergraduate students. Emporia Connection 2014 will be held in Denver, Colorado from August 29-31, 2014.

The new strategic planning documents are now available on the University Strategic Planning SkyBox, http://sky.emporia.edu/skybox/default.aspx; Amanda Humphreys, Graduate Assistant in the Office of the President, continues to compile comments and suggestions regarding mission, vision, SWOT & GAP Analysis (ahumphr2@emporia.edu).

Some 400+ elementary education students crowded Memorial Union’s Webb Hall for the 61st Annual William Allen White Children’s Book Awards honoring authors Patrick Jennings for Guinea Dog and Peg Kehret for Ghost Dog Secrets; John Sheridan, Dean of the ESU Libraries and his staff coordinated the annual event. Emporia Mayor Rob Gilligan and President Michael Shonrock greeted the enthusiastic group!

Standing room only this past Saturday, at the first Black and Gold undergraduate recruitment event for the nearly prospective students and their families hosted in the Memorial Union KSTC Ballroom; double the number that attended last fall’s event.

The quarterly luncheon meeting between Superintendent Davidson, FHTC President Hollenbeck, and ESU President Shonrock included a final review of our new COLLABORATE 2013 Annual Report; the publication will highlight programs among institutions, partnerships with community businesses, career readiness, fund-raising, facilities extreme makeovers!

The theme for the annual Hayes Lecture Series, sponsored by Blue Key, Lessons Learned was delivered in front of hundreds of smiling students by former Lt. Governor and former Kansas Board of Regents chair, Gary Sherrer; great way to start the Homecoming weekend.

Professor Kevin Rabas won, for the second time, a Nelson Poetry Award from the Kansas Authors Club for his work Sonny Kenner’s Red Guitar (his first award in 2009 for Lisa’s Flying Electric Piano).

Nearly 5% of the Emporia community either attended, or tried to attend, to a standing room only POPS Concert, collection of movie-themed music, by the Emporia Symphony Orchestra co-sponsored by our new Student Foundation organization.

Provost David Cordle and President Michael Shonrock recently met with members of the Kansas Leadership Center’s Board of Directors in Wichita regarding the current pilot program between KLC and ESU incorporating civic leadership into the general education curriculum.

Our Internal Auditor, Brian Denton, was invited to attend the Midwest Higher Education Compact (MHEC) Roundtable in Minneapolis; facilitated by former MHEC President and current Emporia State University Foundation Chair Lana Oleen.

Emporia State Research Studies, Sesquicentennial Issue, edited by Connie Phelps and James S. Aber; articles highlight the history and development of KSN, KSTC, & ESU.